The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy

from GulleyJimson

Way too long. Three hundred and fifty pages would have sufficed. I don't really need to read every letter ever written to his children and there were 9 of them. You get the gist after one or two letters with the same theme running through each one to all his kids; work harder, do better. I would ...

from gayla.bassham

Really 3 1/2 stars. There's a lot of interesting information here -- in particular Kennedy's stint as ambassador -- but the writing isn't terribly engaging. Parts of the book (everything involving Rosemary) are heartbreaking and the end of the book left me feeling that despite his power and wealt...

from Schmerguls

This is an unfailingly absorbing account of the life of its subject, from the date of his birth on Sept 6 1888--just two days after my father's birth--to the death on 18 Nov 1969, after suffering a debilitating stroke on Dec 19, 1961. The account of his life making his money in the 1920's, his be...

from SherylHendrix

For fans of history and biography, this book provides what seems to be a well-balanced and fair appraisal of the life of Joseph P. Kennedy, whose remarkable career and unusual and controversial positions on foreign affairs and "appeasement" were neither trivialized nor explained away by author Da...

from cjneary

This is an honest and well written biography of a remarkable character that does not attempt to lionize or demonize the subject. I was disappointed that the intrigue associated with his portrayal in the miniseries, "The Kennedys" was not examined such as his alleged connection with organized crim...